MOC: temporary wooden castle using Western pieces

[Martin_B]

I got a bit bored yesterday evening after setting aside the pieces that used to belong to the 6769 Western fort. Unfortunately I'd pinched a load of the pieces for another MOC, so can't build it until I've got onto Bricklink and replaced them. Instead, I started fiddling around with some old Castle pieces and dug out my minifigs. Many of them are from the Leo's Castle from 2000-ish, while the rest are from the Black Knight sets from ten years previously. Remembering that, after the Norman conquest, many castles were initially hurriedly built from wood, I used the wood-effect panels to throw together a temporary stronghold while I work out what to do with my old Castle pieces!

The King and his knights ride out:

Trouble lurks just around the corner...

The hastily-built courtyard is a hive of activity:

The keep, such as it is, and postern gate:

An old-school minifig on guard:

It's not a full-scale MOC project by any stretch, but it was fun to see what I could do in the space of one saturday evening when I had nothing better to do. There's something about the old Castle themes that I really like, and would love to expand my small collection to build something bigger and more...permanent that I could incorporate into a Town layout or something.

I know of online community projects such as NaNoWriMo and the RPM Challenge, which are organised by amateur writers and songwriters respectively, that involve creativity within a strict time limit. I'm now wondering about a 'speed-build' in which you have to build a MOC in the space of, say, a week or a month. It might be a cool challenge!

[Teh Stud]

Cool idea. I've always wanted enough of those wild west pieces to do something like this.

I like the bandits hiding, but if there are only three they are dog meat. :)

One suggestion, make the battlement pieces brown, not grey. Looks like rock on wood. :)

Would love to see some workers bringing more wood back as if they were still building.

Nice work!

[Martin_B]

Thanks. Yeah, the battlement walkways look a bit 'off' being light grey...I simply grabbed whatever 2 X x plates were to hand, and happened to have more grey than, say, black ones nearby!

It's just fun to 'doodle' sometimes, and occasionally I get some ideas that prove to be useful later on even if the thing itself looks rough and unfinished. Your suggestion of a 'still building' angle for instance has given me another idea, because that would actually work in the favour of the 'rushed' appearance that it has...

Hmm. Yeah...I think that could work, and on a bigger scale too...

[frumpy]

I'm also jealous of your collection of wooden pieces. I've had a few ideas that would be based on these but lack the parts to do the build.

[Martin_B]

I'm also jealous of your collection of wooden pieces. I've had a few ideas that would be based on these but lack the parts to do the build.

Yeah. Since wooden fortifications have been built around the world across different eras, I guess it's a set that lends itself well to MOC-ing? I probably shouldn't go encouraging other people to go spend money, but the "Panel 2 x 6 x 6 Log Wall (Palisade)", "Brick, Modified 1 x 4 Log" and "Brown Brick, Modified 1 x 2 Log" parts are widely available on Bricklink if you want some. The Legoredo fort itself is an awesome set too if you can find it second-hand...I actually had all the pieces out because I was planning to put mine up for sale, but now I've seen how versatile the wood-effect parts are I'm now quite reluctant to part with it!

[Brickington]

Great idea, I never would have thought using wood pieces for castle.

[Nikkiwi]

DOn't forget the Viking fortress 7019 - also lots of wooden parts. I've used this as the basis for a few early medieval designs, and I stock up on those wooden bits if I need to bulk out a BL order.